Showing posts with label 3 Advent C. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3 Advent C. Show all posts

Sunday, December 12, 2021

How Do We Rejoice with Caesar's Army Present?

3 Advent C December 12, 2021
Zeph 3:14-20 Canticle 9 Phil.4:4-9 Luke 3:7-18
Lectionary Link




St. Paul was a Jew who came to follow Christ and became an apostle to found communities in cities in the Roman Empire.  He lived as a member of a religious minority preaching and leading minority communities in an Empire which proclaimed the Caesar as a god and son of a god.

So what does Paul write to the church in Philippi?  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

How can we rejoice Paul?  We're a small minority and if we let our identity be known too widely, we could face persecution.

Today is Rejoice Sunday in the season of Advent.  And we might have difficulty following the "rejoice" command if we are facing major challenges in our personal lives and in the life of our country.

And this is where we have to know the direction of rejoicing?  Rejoice in the Lord.  The Lord of the Roman Empire was the Caesar.  Don't rejoice in him; rejoice in the ruler of the interior kingdom of God, the Risen Christ, because he can be found wherever one is and in any circumstance.

The Jesus Movement was the embracing of an alternative reality in the midst of the Empire reality of the Caesar.  We are still a part of the Jesus Movement; we cannot identify the Lord Risen Christ with any political party or leaders in this world.  The Jesus Movement is an interior movement of the Holy Spirit, a parallel realm within which we can know a different kind of identity, what Paul also called our heavenly citizenship.  If the Caesar seems to be close at hand within the soldiers inhabiting the land, St. Paul wrote that the "Lord, Risen Christ, " is even nearer.  And the nearness of the Risen Christ gives us the uncanny freedom to be free from worry, when logic often seems tells us that we should be worried.  The Lord Risen Christ gives us the freedom continually to offer thankful prayers with our requests to God.  The Roman Caesars required praise and tributes; Paul suggested that God is the Lord who deserves our thankful prayers.

What might characterize the most winsome way of living?  Gentleness.  Paul tells his community that they can live gentle lives.  And this is not some effete weakness; this is knowing how to access the inner charisma of the original joy like the smile of a sleeping baby.  Gentle charisma is winsome; it not a sign of weakness and this is how we are to melt the hearts of the people we live with, with winsome gentleness, which is the strength to check our egos and make room for others and tend to them with care.

Paul and the Philippian church lived in the "Pax Romana" Empire.  The Roman Peace, which was accomplished by the success of the Roman armies.  If you crucify all opponents, you might call it a peace, because everyone is living in the fear of violence.

Paul spoke of the inner kingdom of peace that we have access to because of the Risen Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps the greatest secret of the mystical experience is to know interior peace in a place below all emotions and sentimentality.  Our emotions can be tamed by the experience of this deep peace of God which is a bedrock experience of knowing that one has been baptized by God's Spirit.

Many years after Paul wrote, the Gospels were written to trace the genealogy of the knowledge of this kingdom and realm of the Risen Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit.  And the genealogy in knowing the kingdom of the Risen Christ included the figure of John the Baptist who taught us some important lessons.

John taught us to accept rebuke when we are religious hypocrites; when we try to replace love and justice with religious piety and performance of ritual.  Rather than trying to look religious, John asked people to do the obvious good deeds, to share food and clothing, to be honest and don't use power to bully people.  And John encouraged us to know ourselves, like he knew himself.  He knew that he was not the Messiah, and he knew his role was to point to the Messiah who would baptize with the Holy Spirit to initiate people into the kingdom of God.  To make people aware that the kingdom of God has always already been the fact of the universe.

Today, we are invited to rejoice, because we live in the realm of God.  And we are invited to live winsome lives of gentleness so that people can come to know the gentle and peaceful life of God within them.

Blessed Mary is the saint of our parish, and she has been known in transhistorical appearance, as we remember on this day, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  As Blessed Mary came to Juan Diego in her appearance as our Lady of Guadalupe and brought peace, healing, and identity to the people of Mexico, and to all people who are threatened by the empires of oppression, let us know that Blessed Mary is also praying for us to know joy in knowing that the Risen Christ is born within us.  Amen.


Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Sunday School, December 12, 3 Advent C

Sunday School, December 12,    3 Advent C


Gaudete Sunday

You can use the Advent Candles and Wreath as a countdown calendar for Christmas.  Just like a child might mark each day waiting for his or her birthday, the four Advent Candles provide a countdown to
Christmas.

The third Sunday is called Gaudete, the Latin word which means Rejoice.  And the Epistle reading is, “Rejoice in the Lord, always and again I say Rejoice.”

The candle for the third Sunday in Advent is pink and different from the purple color of the other Advent candles.

Today we put together the words rejoice and repent.

Repent is just a fancy religious word for “education.”   What is the opposite of education?  Ignorance.  What is the opposite of Rejoice?  Being sad.

Education and rejoicing go together.  Much of the suffering and the pain in our world is caused by human ignorance.  One of the reasons we repent or get educated is to learn how to prevent bad things from happening to us and to others.

A very young baby is ignorant about fire and so if a baby is not taken care, the baby might be fascinated by fire and put his finger in the fire and get burned.  And the baby would not rejoice if he got his finger burned.

Repentance is education or learning new things and when we learn new things we can learn to behave and act differently and we can help to make our lives and the lives of other happy.

John the Baptist was a special prophet of repentance.  He encouraged us to become more educated so that we could avoid future disasters and future sadness.

God has given us rules and laws for us to learn and if we learn these laws we can prevent many disasters and we can create rejoicing.

If we love God, give God some time by prayer, honor our parents, respect life, tell the truth, respect our families, and be content with what we have, we will have much to rejoice in our lives.

Repentance is learning how to act to prevent bad things happening to us.  And if we prevent bad things from happening, we will have joy and rejoicing rather than sadness and suffering.

If you go skateboarding without your knee pads, you might scrape and hurt your knee if you fall.  Then you would suffer and be sad.  But if you learn to wear knee pads, and you fall, then you knee would be just fine and you would be happy and you would be able to rejoice in the fun that you are having.

Discuss how repentance or education is about doing things that can prevent suffering?   And if we can prevent suffering, then we will be able to live in rejoicing and happiness.

The Bible readings on this day teach us about repentance and rejoicing and it is a good time for us to learn about how education can prevent future suffering and sadness.

  What if I fall and scrape my knee?  Would that hurt?  And what if you came to me and said, “Father Phil, be happy!”  How would I feel?  I would not feel happy.
  This Sunday in Advent is called “Rejoice” Sunday or Be Really Happy Sunday.  But what if there are things that have happened and we don’t feel like being happy, should we still try to be really happy?
  When I hurt my knee, does everyone else hurt their knee at the same time?  No.  Can I be happy that other people did not hurt their knee?  Well, yes.  When I hurt my knee, do I have people who love and care for me?  Well, yes I do so I can be happy about that.   When I hurt my knee do I still have a home to live in, clothes to wear, and food to eat?  Well, yes I do so I can be happy about many things even when I am not happy about hurting my knee.
  When I hurt my knee, does the sun still shine and give me warmth and light?  Does water still quench my thirst?  Do pets still make me happy?  Do I still get to play sports?  Do I still get to read interesting books?  Do I still have friends?  Does God still love and care for me?  
  So, you see when I hurt my knee all of the millions and millions of other good things in life do not stop and so I still have many things to be happy about.
  But there is something very strong about pain.  When I hurt my knee and when I feel pain, that pain acts like a monster that wants to take over my whole life and my whole world.  The monster of pain tries to tell me that because I hurt my knee, everything in life is bad and painful.
  So when I hurt my knee, I need my friends to help me deal with the monster of pain.  I need my friends to show me that the million other good things in my life is so big that it can make the monster of pain become like a little ant.
  So this is rejoice and be happy Sunday.  When we rejoice, we start counting all of the good things we have in life and we begin to find how they are much more powerful than the bad things that happen to us in life.
  Today, there may be some very bad things in life and we have to gather and pray and learn to count up all of the good blessings in life and we have to learn how use the good blessings in life to prevent as many bad things from happening.
  If I scraped my knee when I was roller blading what should I do?  I should wear knee pads, right?
  And so if we rejoice in good health, then we look for ways to prevent injury in accidents.
  So, today is rejoice Sunday.  It is when we look at what is good in our lives.  But it is also repent Sunday.  After we see what is good, then to repent means that we work to prevent bad things from happening.
  Can you say Rejoice and Repent.  This is Rejoice and Repent Sunday.  Amen.


Family Service with Holy Eucharist
December 12, 2021: The Third Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: Light a Candle; Jesus Stand Among Us,  Peace Before Us; Thy Word,  When the Saints

Lighting of the Advent Candle:   Light a Candle
Light a candle for hope today, Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.           Advent time is here.
Light a candle for peace today..3. Love…  
             
Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.
And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.
Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song:  Jesus Stand Among Us, Renew! #17
1-Jesus stand among us, at the meeting of our lives, be our sweet agreement at the meeting of our eyes; O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.
2-So to You we’re gathering out of each and every land.  Christ the love between us at the joining of our hand; O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.
3-Jesus stand among us, the breaking of the bread, join us as one body as we worship Your, our Head.  O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.
People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia
O God, you have made us! Alleluia
O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia
O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia
O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia
O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia
O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Letter to the Philippian Church

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
Liturgist: Let us read together from the First Song of Isaiah

Surely, it is God who saves me; *  I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, * and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing * from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say, * Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:
For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!
For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!
For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!
For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!
For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!
For work and for play. Thanks be to God!
For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!
For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!
For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family. Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.


Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.
People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. Phil
Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.
Since God is so great and we are so small,
We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.
We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and
     resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.
We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is
     welcome.
We believe that Christ is kind and fair.
We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.
And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.


Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.
For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.
For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.
For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.
For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.
For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.
People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Song: Peace Before Us (Wonder, Love and Praise,  # 791)
Peace before us.  Peace behind us.  Peace under our feet.  Peace within us.  Peace over us.  Let all around us be Peace.  Love,  Light, Christ

Children’s Choir:  Greater Than These Is Love,   by Russell Nagy
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”
All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All  may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  
  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory
 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,
(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.
As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.
But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.
Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Thy Word, (Renew! #94)
Refrain: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path
1-When I feel afraid, think I’ve lost my way, still you’re right beside me.  And nothing will I fear as long as you are near.  Please be near me to the end.  Refrain.
2-I will not forget your love for me, and yet my heart forever is wandering.  Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side; and I will love you to the end.  Refrain

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
    and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: O When the Saints, (The Christian Children’s Songbook, # 248)
O when those saints, go marching in, Oh, when those saints go marching in, Lord I want to be in that number when the saint go marching in.
Boys….. 3.  Girls  4.  Saints

Dismissal:   
Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 
People: Thanks be to God! 
  

Sunday, December 16, 2018

John the Baptist Had No Messiah Complex

3 Advent C     December 16, 2018
Zeph 3:14-20  Canticle 9         
Phil.4:4-9    Luke 3:7-18
Lectionary Link

Does it seem strange to you that people in the time of Jesus were asking John the Baptist if he were the Messiah.

John the Baptist lived in the time of Jesus and the Gospel writers tell us that people asked John the Baptist, "Are you Messiah?"

The asking of this question is very revealing.  Why were people asking the question in the first place?  The time of John the Baptist and Jesus was so oppressive that people thought the world circumstances were signs of the end of the world order for humanity.  People of faith believed that there would be the appearance of a heroic figure to intervene for the cause of justice for God's oppressed people.  There was lots of literature to inspire and fuel speculation about such a figure who had been called Son of Man in the book of Daniel, the Lord's begotten Son in the Psalms, the Son of God in the Apocrypha Book of Second Esdras, and who was also called Messiah after the oil of anointing given to kings of Israel.  The heroic figure had other names too, like a Suffering Servant, Immanuel, Prince of Peace, Wonderful,  Counselor, and the Almighty God.

But the figure of the messiah was a hero expected by many.  So if John the Baptist was a potential candidate to be regarded as the Messiah, this tells us that he had quite a high profile among the people of Palestine who cared about such things.  One could even say that John the Baptist was regarded to be a rival messiah to Jesus of Nazareth.

And if John was a rival to the popularity of Jesus, what about the community of John the Baptist?  John had a significant number of followers and they continued to be an identifiable community after John was beheaded by King Herod.  Since Jesus was baptized by John, it could be that Jesus was the senior disciple of John the Baptist, and so he was the natural and logical successor to John the Baptist.  But not all of the followers of John the Baptist became followers of Jesus right away; the community of John the Baptist retained an identity until much later.

In some respects, the community of John the Baptist might be called the Proto-church.  John, as a poor wilderness prophet, could adjust his message and life style to the lives of many poor people in Palestine who did not seem to have significant status in the other various religious parties of Judaism or in the Roman government.  But John the Baptist was popular enough to draw the interest and curiosity of members of the religious parties like the Sadducees and Pharisees.  John the Baptist was in fact a son of a priest, but he was not following in his father's footsteps.

Let take a step back and ponder Christian marketing or evangelism in the early decades of the Jesus Movement. What people were most likely to receive the message about Jesus Christ?  Among the parties that were present in Judaism, the members of the community of John the Baptist were more likely to become followers of Jesus, much more so than the Pharisees or the Sadducees.  And when Jerusalem was destroyed; when Christianity could no longer be Jerusalem based, it gradually became more likely for Gentiles to accept the message of the Gospel than for Jews who lived in the cities of the Roman Empire.

Of all people, John the Baptist gets more Gospel ink than anyone besides Jesus.  He is presented in a much more favorable like in the Gospel than the disciples.  He is presented as one who understood the importance of Jesus while the twelve disciples are often presented as clueless.  John the Baptist even has a marvelous birth story in the Gospel which parallels the miraculous birth story of Jesus.  Did Peter, James or John have a marvelous birth story?

How did the early Christian preacher make an appeal to the followers of John the Baptist?  Not by diminishing the significance of John the Baptist; rather they gave John the Baptist a prominent place in the salvation history which preceded Jesus Christ because they believed that the Jesus Movement was the successor movement of the John the Baptist movement.  They believed that John the Baptist was the prelude to Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Risen Christ.

How did John the Baptist prepare the way for Jesus and for the Jesus Movement?  When the people ask John the Baptist what they should do, his answer was amazingly simple.  I think people wanted to know what were the correct religious behaviors and ritual behaviors to perform.  And what did John say?  Be kind, if you see someone in need, share.  Be honest; don't extort money.  But John, do I need to say this prayer each day?  Don't I need to give this special offering?  Don't I need to wear my prayer shawl in the right way?

John the Baptist proclaimed that right behaviors in your everyday life were more important that the religious behaviors that religious leaders wanted you to perform for the success of their religious community.  The early Jesus Movement understood that John the Baptist was preparation for the message of Jesus Christ to move out of the communities of Judaism and into the Gentile people.  One can see in the presentation of John the Baptist, the theology of Gentile Christianity that Paul wrote about in the letter to the Romans.  The tree of Judaism had been cut down with the destruction of the temple; and the Gentiles Christians were branches grafted into the stump of the tree.  They found that John the Baptist was a key bridge figure to the success of the message and mystical experience of the Risen Christ.

John the Baptist was important to birth of the Jesus Movement and it has been the custom of the church to bring him out each year before Christmas to celebrate his role in our salvation history.

John the Baptist is also a reminder to us before the season of Christmas excess, to simplify our lives, to share with those in need, especially if we possess so much excess.  John the Baptist is a reminder that we cannot substitute religious behaviors, ritual behaviors, or group religious identity for right living.  We can say we are observant in our religious behaviors, but without right living, we are but hypocrites.

The Gospel writers also presented the distinction between the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus.  John came to tell people that life is about the practice of right behaviors in the day life; it is not about having the right religious identity, whether Jew, Episcopalian, Catholic, Baptist, Buddhist, Muslim or Amish.  But just knowing that we need to practice right behavior can be daunting.  I can know what to do but experience the total inability to do what I know I need to do.

What did John the Baptist say about Jesus?  He was one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  John the Baptist did an external washing with water; he was the boot camp sergeant who told us to get our act together; Jesus of Nazareth became known as the Risen Christ, a mystical experience of the Holy Spirit to do an inside job on us to give us the power and the ability to do the right things that we need to do.

John the Baptist did not have a Messiah complex; but he was messianic.  He knew that to be messianic was to bring good news about kindness, sharing and honesty and justice.  And he knew to refer us to the one who could do an inside job on each of us, to baptize us with the Holy Spirit to make us messianic people of hope, love, justice and care.  Amen.

Why John the Baptist


3 Advent C     December 16, 2018
Zeph 3:14-20  Canticle 9         
Phil.4:4-9    Luke 3:7-18


We get a full dose of John the Baptist during the season of Advent, whether we want him or not.

Like the season of Lent is for Easter, Advent is supposed to be a season of preparation for Christmas.  But we know in our culture Christmas begins the day after Thanksgiving or before.  Advent is seen as an inconvenient speed bump as we are racing into Christmas parties and celebrations.

John the Baptist is the ultimate Advent police; he seems to be warning us not to begin our celebrations too soon.  He is the ultimate live off the land type of person; no thrills life style and totally self reliant.  He doesn't have to do any fundraising and so he can say anything he wants.  Imagine your typical parish priest during the season of Every Member Canvass saying, "You brood of vipers, you think you can come to church to avoid hell."  Oh, by the way the pledge card need to be turned in next Sunday.

The church have used John the Baptist to reinforce the themes of the season of Advent.  It is a season to recommend simplifying our lives as a way to reduce the clutter and distractions in our lives that keep us from appreciating the birth of Christ in our lives.

John the Baptist had other significance for the early Christians.

In John's own time, he and Jesus were reforming rabbis in Judaism.  They both were associated with apocalyptic and end of time movements because the Jews were so oppressed by Roman occupation, there was desperate hope for catastrophic end of the world God-intervention.

The people who followed John and Jesus were perhaps a bit more desperate than the Jewish religious leaders.  They were wanting a great David messiah but the Pharisees and Sadducees were more realistic about the Roman control.  So, the Jewish leaders did not want firebrand prophets stirring up too much trouble which would bring the Roman soldiers to put down anything that looked like a political insurrection.

John the Baptist was probably an older mentor for Jesus, as Jesus submitted to baptism by John the Baptist into his community.

John the Baptist figured prominently in the Gospels, the literature that revealed the values of the early church.  The early church valued and venerated John the Baptist.  John the Baptist has a marvelous birth story to parallel the miraculous birth story of Jesus.   Jesus even hinted that John seemed to be like a reincarnation of the life of the prophet Elijah.  John the Baptist had a significant number of followers, who continued to remain together as a community long after John had died.  However, because of the close relationship between John and Jesus, the followers of John the Baptist were perhaps the ones most likely to graduate from John to become followers of Jesus.  The writings of Gospels are proof that Jesus and his disciples were trying to convert the members of the community of John the Baptist to the Jesus Movement.  One could even say that the community of John the Baptist, was the proto-church or the immediate predecessor of the Jesus Movement which became the church.

One of the rather harsh realities of the Gospel are the very strong words which John the Baptist and Jesus had for the religious leaders of their time.

As we remember that the Gospels were written when the Jesus Movement had become separated from the synagogue sim the separation involved breakdown of community relationships.  Strong words of disagreement were exchanged as the synagogue excommunicated the followers of Jesus and as the members of the Jesus Movement realized that they could not be be regarded as fully observant Jews because of their Gentile backgrounds.

Some of the harshness of the words of both John and Jesus found in the Gospel are more representative of the later break down between the synagogue and the Jesus Movement rather than the ways things actually were during the time of John or Jesus.

Before the Gospels were written, St. Paul wrote the theology of the separation that took place between Judaism and the Jesus Movement.  Paul wrote that the tree of Judaism had been cut down as it were and Gentile Christianity was grafted into the stump of Judaism.

John the Baptist was presented as the prophet who prepared the way for the separation of Jesus Movement from the synagogue.  If John was presented as calling the Jewish religious leaders a brood of vipers, which essentially was saying that they were children of serpent of the Garden of Eden, and if Jesus was presented as one who called the religious leaders children of the father of lies, the Gospels are proof of the severe break down between the synagogue and the Jesus Movement.

It is unfortunate that during periods of church history, Christian leaders and people with power have often used the words of the Gospels as justification to persecute the Jewish religious minority who lived in their societies.

We can let the harsh separation between the synagogue and the Jesus Movement remain as part of what the Gospels represent; but we should accept the separation of Judaism and Christianity into two different missions.  The words of the Gospels must not be used to justify any religious discrimination, especially in our time where love and justice has taught us to honor the faith of all.

John the Baptist visits us in our Gospel reading each Advent season and we should take insights from his witness.  First, reform happens because sometimes reform is needed.  Reform involves change and change is not always smooth or easy or even peaceably friendly.  Change sometimes upset us both personally and as community.  We don't always like to let go of comfortable habits even when it becomes obvious that we need to find new insights for new action and new ways to constitute ourselves as a more winsome community to more people.

John the Baptist was presented as one who prepared the world for an encounter with Jesus.  Advent is the season of preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  And in this Advent, we once again seek to prepare ourselves for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.  And so we look forward to something new at Christmas in the rejoicing refreshment of realizing once again that Christ is born in us.  And we can be thankful for the John the Baptist aspect of personality during the season of Advent as a necessary precursor to the experience of something new and fresh in our personal lives and in our community.  May the witness of John the Baptist today, be a witness of expectation for something new and fresh today.  Amen.

Friday, December 14, 2018

Sunday School, December 16, 2018 3 Advent C


Sunday School, December 16, 2018     3 Advent C

Gaudete Sunday

You can use the Advent Candles and Wreath as a countdown calendar for Christmas.  Just like a child might mark each day waiting for his or her birthday, the four Advent Candles provide a countdown to
Christmas.

The third Sunday is called Gaudete, the Latin word which means Rejoice.  And the Epistle reading is, “Rejoice in the Lord, always and again I say Rejoice.”

The candle for the third Sunday in Advent is pink and different from the purple color of the other Advent candles.

Today we put together the words rejoice and repent.

Repent is just a fancy religious word for “education.”   What is the opposite of education?  Ignorance.  What is the opposite of Rejoice?  Being sad.

Education and rejoicing go together.  Much of the suffering and the pain in our world is caused by human ignorance.  One of the reasons we repent or get educated is to learn how to prevent bad things from happening to us and to others.

A very young baby is ignorant about fire and so if a baby is not taken care, the baby might be fascinated by fire and put his finger in the fire and get burned.  And the baby would not rejoice if he got his finger burned.

Repentance is education or learning new things and when we learn new things we can learn to behave and act differently and we can help to make our lives and the lives of other happy.

John the Baptist was a special prophet of repentance.  He encouraged us to become more educated so that we could avoid future disasters and future sadness.

God has given us rules and laws for us to learn and if we learn these laws we can prevent many disasters and we can create rejoicing.

If we love God, give God some time by prayer, honor our parents, respect life, tell the truth, respect our families, and be content with what we have, we will have much to rejoice in our lives.

Repentance is learning how to act to prevent bad things happening to us.  And if we prevent bad things from happening, we will have joy and rejoicing rather than sadness and suffering.

If you go skateboarding without your knee pads, you might scrape and hurt your knee if you fall.  Then you would suffer and be sad.  But if you learn to wear knee pads, and you fall, then you knee would be just fine and you would be happy and you would be able to rejoice in the fun that you are having.

Discuss how repentance or education is about doing things that can prevent suffering?   And if we can prevent suffering, then we will be able to live in rejoicing and happiness.

The Bible readings on this day teach us about repentance and rejoicing and it is a good time for us to learn about how education can prevent future suffering and sadness.

  What if I fall and scrape my knee?  Would that hurt?  And what if you came to me and said, “Father Phil, be happy!”  How would I feel?  I would not feel happy.
  This Sunday in Advent is called “Rejoice” Sunday or Be Really Happy Sunday.  But what if there are things that have happened and we don’t feel like being happy, should we still try to be really happy?
  When I hurt my knee, does everyone else hurt their knee at the same time?  No.  Can I be happy that other people did not hurt their knee?  Well, yes.  When I hurt my knee, do I have people who love and care for me?  Well, yes I do so I can be happy about that.   When I hurt my knee do I still have a home to live in, clothes to wear, and food to eat?  Well, yes I do so I can be happy about many things even when I am not happy about hurting my knee.
  When I hurt my knee, does the sun still shine and give me warmth and light?  Does water still quench my thirst?  Do pets still make me happy?  Do I still get to play sports?  Do I still get to read interesting books?  Do I still have friends?  Does God still love and care for me?  
  So, you see when I hurt my knee all of the millions and millions of other good things in life do not stop and so I still have many things to be happy about.
  But there is something very strong about pain.  When I hurt my knee and when I feel pain, that pain acts like a monster that wants to take over my whole life and my whole world.  The monster of pain tries to tell me that because I hurt my knee, everything in life is bad and painful.
  So when I hurt my knee, I need my friends to help me deal with the monster of pain.  I need my friends to show me that the million other good things in my life is so big that it can make the monster of pain become like a little ant.
  So this is rejoice and be happy Sunday.  When we rejoice, we start counting all of the good things we have in life and we begin to find how they are much more powerful than the bad things that happen to us in life.
  Today, there may be some very bad things in life and we have to gather and pray and learn to count up all of the good blessings in life and we have to learn how use the good blessings in life to prevent as many bad things from happening.
  If I scraped my knee when I was roller blading what should I do?  I should wear knee pads, right?
  And so if we rejoice in good health, then we look for ways to prevent injury in accidents.
  So, today is rejoice Sunday.  It is when we look at what is good in our lives.  But it is also repent Sunday.  After we see what is good, then to repent means that we work to prevent bad things from happening.
  Can you say Rejoice and Repent.  This is Rejoice and Repent Sunday.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church
17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
Family Service with Holy Eucharist
December 16, 2018: The Third Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: Light a Candle; Jesus Stand Among Us,  Peace Before Us; Thy Word,  When the Saints

Lighting of the Advent Candle:   Light a Candle
Light a candle for hope today, Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.           Advent time is here.
Light a candle for peace today..3. Love…  
             
Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.
And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.
Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song:  Jesus Stand Among Us, Renew! #17
1-Jesus stand among us, at the meeting of our lives, be our sweet agreement at the meeting of our eyes; O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.
2-So to You we’re gathering out of each and every land.  Christ the love between us at the joining of our hand; O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.
3-Jesus stand among us, the breaking of the bread, join us as one body as we worship Your, our Head.  O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.
People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia
O God, you have made us! Alleluia
O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia
O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia
O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia
O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia
O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Letter to the Philippian Church

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
Liturgist: Let us read together from the First Song of Isaiah

Surely, it is God who saves me; *  I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, * and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing * from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say, * Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:
For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!
For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!
For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!
For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!
For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!
For work and for play. Thanks be to God!
For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!
For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!
For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family. Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.


Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.
People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. Phil
Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.
Since God is so great and we are so small,
We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.
We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and
     resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.
We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is
     welcome.
We believe that Christ is kind and fair.
We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.
And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.


Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.
For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.
For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.
For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.
For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.
For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.
People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Song: Peace Before Us (Wonder, Love and Praise,  # 791)
Peace before us.  Peace behind us.  Peace under our feet.  Peace within us.  Peace over us.  Let all around us be Peace.  Love,  Light, Christ

Children’s Choir:  Greater Than These Is Love,   by Russell Nagy
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”
All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All  may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  
  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory
 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,
(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.
As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.
But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.
Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Thy Word, (Renew! #94)
Refrain: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path
1-When I feel afraid, think I’ve lost my way, still you’re right beside me.  And nothing will I fear as long as you are near.  Please be near me to the end.  Refrain.
2-I will not forget your love for me, and yet my heart forever is wandering.  Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side; and I will love you to the end.  Refrain

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
    and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: O When the Saints, (The Christian Children’s Songbook, # 248)
O when those saints, go marching in, Oh, when those saints go marching in, Lord I want to be in that number when the saint go marching in.
Boys….. 3.  Girls  4.  Saints

Dismissal:   
Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 
People: Thanks be to God! 
  

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